#30LESSONSFROM30s #LAST30DAYSOF30s Days 11-15

Welcome to #30LESSONSFROM30s

Hello and thank you for checking out this project. This is Tony Esteves about 1/3 of the way through my 30 day challenge. The challenge is to post a new video with a lesson that I learned in my 30s on this website every day until I turn 40. That’s how it’s come to be know as the “Last30DaysOf30s” project.

I took this challenge on as a very experienced professional speaker – Vince Poscente – recently challenged a bunch of us to use more video in our businesses. I love 30 day challenges so this started. It has indeed been quite a challenge until this point but also a great deal of fun. It turns out that I will have attracted an additional 1000 + views to my YouTube channel by the end of all of this, and I think that’s pretty cool.

I hope that you enjoy the videos and the lessons that you will find here and if you do, please feel free to share.

Many thanks,

Tony Esteves

Day 15 – Be totally authentic.

Ah we are half way there! 15 videos have been made in 15 days, and I’ve got 15 more to create. Wish me luck…

How real are you with the people you connect with on a day to day basis? Do you always tell the truth? Sometimes? Depends?

One of the most important lessons that I learned in my 30s came from Dr. Lance Secretan. I was very fortunate to attend one of his retreat trainings in Caledon, Ontario in 2012. That 2.5 day session was based on his book called, “The Spark, The Flame and the Torch” and it was incredible.

There were many pieces of learning from my time with our small group, but perhaps the most important to me was the lesson about authenticity. I had until that time, been carrying around quite a few little lies with me and learned that there was really no need to do so. Not only did this offer me relief but it taught me a new way to interact in the world – authentically. I think that this is something that all of us can improve upon and have found there to be great benefits from being more authentic which is why it’s one of my messages on this journey.

Today’s lesson?

Be totally authentic.

Day 14 – Say YES more often.

How often do you say yes to new opportunities? I believe that we live in a society where “no” is the default answer to many situations and because of that many people miss amazing opportunities.

With a little sense of adventure and a desire to travel, I said “yes” to many opportunities in my 30s and it allowed me to have some pretty wonderful chapters of life.

Because of daring to use this little 3 letter word more often than some in my 30s I was able to:

Some of these “yesses” were inspired by Danny Wallace’s book, “Yes Man”. An entertaining movie about this true story was created and starred Jim Carrey. I recommend them both.

Today’s lesson?

Say YES more often.

Day 13 – Get coached.

Getting coached was one of the smartest things that I did (and continue to do) in my 30s. I am a coach myself, yet I have a coach. It’s so helpful to have someone to hold you accountable to do the things that you know you should do.

Today’s video comes from one of my favorite Calgary coffee shops where many coffees have found me and many thoughts of mine have been thought. It is located in Kensington and is called, “Higher Ground”.

I enjoyed such a coffee visit with Trent Schumann who is also one of my mentors. He is the director of Experienca and Mountain Quest and has delivered his programs all over the world. These companies bring team building experiences to corporate audiences and I’ve been very fortunate to do some work with and learning from Trent.

Today’s lesson?

Get coached.

Day 11 – Take a break.

Today’s message comes from Lake Louise, Alberta. It’s a brief one.

Day 11 comes after Day 12 due to my having been lost in time during yesterday’s video creation on the snowy slackline. It’s a good thing that “Done is better than perfect!” (seee Day 1 lesson)

So for now, take a break!

Often when we get immersed in projects or work that we are passionate about we can lose sight of our own needs and forget to take proper care of ourselves. I’ve certainly experienced my share of that in my 30s. As this 30 day challenge has been quite a time consuming project, I thought I’d take advantage of the message about taking a break on this day while I was giving myself the day off to go snowboarding. Thank you Ally and Mihail for the great day and for being a part of today’s message.

Here’s a link to a blog post on this subject from a kayak on the Bow River back in 2013.

Know your limits, and if you don’t yet know them, notice them once you figure them out. Be good to yourself and even if you think you can’t afford to…

Today’s lesson?

Take a break!

Interestingly, this is the 40th video that I have posted on my YouTube account and it comes at a time when I have just under 40,000 views on my channel. It seems that this number 40 is coming to me from all directions! You are welcome to do so Forty. Come and get me!

Day 12 – Surround yourself with people who do the things that you want to do.

I’ve now been living in Alberta for about a year and a half and have been blessed to meet and connect with some wonderful people. The mountains are quite compelling and it turns out that I am not the only one out here who likes to play in them.

Throughout my 30s I seemed to gravitate more and more to people who did the things that I always dreamed of doing in my life: cycling, snowboarding, traveling, running, etc. Earlier on it often seemed that those were things that I’d like to have in my life, but for some reason, I couldn’t.

What I learned in this decade is that in order to bring the activities that you want into your life, you need to spend time with people who already do those things.

Thank you Amanda and Will for being a part of today’s fun on the snowy slackline.

Today’s lesson?

Surround yourself with people who do the things that you want to do.

Further reading can be seen on this subject by an earlier blog post that was also produced on the slackline in Calgary.